SUMMARY: AU To think that high school would be boring, but now the world revolved on things like time-travelers, aliens, and a cosmetic system filled with pirate UFOs all because Ace was secretly decreed as some ultimate being. OC
DISCLAIMER: Don't own One Piece (by Eiichiro Oda) or Melancholy of Haruki Suzumiya (by Tanigawa Nagaru)
NOTE: It won't be exactly like Melancholy of Haruki Suzumiya, but the basis of it. Also, Ace here will be 15, so he would take up a personality resembling a bit like his 10-year-old self.
/00/
I entered school around my home area, in which I instantly regretted the moment I looked at the huge hill I had to climb over. Even in springtime, the sun was beating down on the poor students mercilessly, especially those who had to climb over this hill. Every time this thought rose to my head, I would get tired and depressed and would rather do something like laze around at home, but I made a vow to myself that I would work harder on my studies…so up the hill I go then.
This was seriously depressing, though. It was the first day of school and I was already tired of it. More than that—totally unexcited for the new year, the new school, and the idea of becoming a high school student. You'd think that optimism would rub off of me like any other girl, a chance for a young maiden to spread her wings and take flight, to find her one true love, to discover all kinds of thrilling adventures…
Whatever. I guess I never had enthusiasm mastered down—or maybe that I'm quite sane to be grieving that I have a gargantuan hill to climb over.
What made this day even better was that all freshmen had to go to some mandatory ceremony where we mindlessly mingled and half-heartedly listened to the principal's monotonous speech. I caught half of the words he said before unconsciously drifting off.
When the ceremony was over, students were to head over to their homeroom. I was quick to find my class—classroom 1-5—and found my assigned seat there. Upfront, there was a slim man with glasses and a stern-looking face. By the time the seats were filled, Kurahodal-sensei—as he introduced himself as—gave a brisk yet warning speech about what he didn't tolerated in class and what was to be expected and the like. I'm pretty sure that everyone got the memo that we had a bad apple teacher here.
"Now I would like everyone to stand up and introduce himself or herself and the dreams to be achieved in the future," sensei said, folding his arms. "We'll start with you."
As each student stood up and followed the plan of the instruction, it soon became my turn. To be honest, I was a bit nervous on making my first impression on my classmates, fearing that I would mess up by stumbling over my words or something. In my head, I made sure I had a rehearsed introduction before standing. It actually went by pretty well—I just announced my name and what kind of goal I was hoping to achieve, just like how everyone else wished to have a good year, start off fresh, join a fun club, and so forth.
I sat back down when I was done, feeing a surge of relief. You know, that feeling when you've finished something unpleasant yet necessary? Yeah, that feeling.
Then the person behind me stood up for his turn and said in a clear, deep voice, "My name is Portgas D. Ace."
Up to this point, I didn't bother turning around and facing him. It was going to be another typical introduction. Little did I know how dead wrong I was.
"Normal human beings do not interest me. If you are an alien, a monster, an esper, or anything paranormal, come see me at once."
Now that caught me off guard. Hearing this, there was no way that I couldn't turn around. I looked over my shoulder and saw a tall boy surveying the classroom with a serious and challenging gaze. His hair drifted to his shoulders as his frown marred his face. It might have been shocking to see this kind of guy make such an outrageous proclamation, but it just happened.
I was torn whether to remain silent or laugh—maybe he was trying to be funny, who knows? Everyone else stared at him with wide eyes, the atmosphere quite tense. Well, except for the teacher who maintained an indifferent demeanor. While everyone was stunned, Kurahodal-sensei cleared his voice loudly and signaled for the next student to make his introduction, cutting off the tenseness.
And so…that was Portgas D. Ace.
After grabbing everyone's attention the first day, Ace reverted into a silent and frowning student. That frown must be perpetual.
I figured that Ace must have been someone…special, in a way. Oh yes, he was special all right. But by my miscalculations, I thought that he had the spotlight of this year's weirdo—in a peculiar-good-funny-odd-unique kind of way… Oh, forget it.
What I'm trying to convey is that there were definitely some students here who had graduated from junior high with Ace. And the chances of them being in the same class as me? Beats me, but from what I understood from my prior mistake, there were more than I would have liked. I came from a different junior high school, so of course I wouldn't know how to take care of this…delicate situation pertaining to Ace, unlike some of my classmates who knew what his stoicism meant.
And so, as a result, I did something regrettable a few days after the first day of school.
You see, when Ace sits in silence in his seat, he looks like a normal, good-looking guy. Besides, he seemed intriguing, so I thought, "Why not?" I suppose that curiosity got the better of me when I turned around to the boy who sat behind me, questions bubbling up inside me. Oh, how I wished someone would have slapped some sense into me.
"Hey," I said, smiling airily. "That stuff you said before… Was it true?"
Ace leaned back into his seat, his frown and irritable attitude all present in his glory. Whatever. "What stuff?" he responded.
"The stuff about the aliens."
"Do you happen to be an alien?"
I blinked at the sudden question. "Um, no."
"Then what business do you have with me?"
"N-nothing, I guess…"
"Then don't bother talking to me. You're a waste of my time." With that said, he tore away his stare and glared at the ceiling. I was so shocked that I just sat there, paralyzed, for a moment. When I regained my senses, I noticed that there were a couple people shooting amused glances at me. Oh, the humiliation.
That was the first time I've been called "a waste of time". Were my feelings hurt? Yes. Did I now hate Ace? Strangely, no. For some reason, I felt that I should have known not to ask him such and paid a bit more attention to his introduction—although, it had been a brisk one. You know what? Never mind. To be frank, Ace was indeed an insensitive jerk, but I knew that there was some explanation for it.
The conversation about Ace stirred up by the time lunch came around. I sat with my junior high friend, Kuina, and a girl who decided to join us, Nojiko.
Nojiko was from Ace's school, so it was obvious that she would ask me "Did you try to talk to Portgas-kun?"
I chomped on my roll and nodded.
"And he said something weird and you didn't know how to react?"
"That's what happened," I said, sighing.
Nojiko gave me a sympathetic smile. "Portgas-kun is strange. I would know it the most since I've been in his class for three years, and I'm surprised that I've been sorted into the same class with him again."
Kuina's eyes were filled with curiosity. "Has he always been this peculiar?"
The girl nodded. "As far as I've known him. Back in junior high, he's done some pretty bizarre stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Well, there was that incident where he had snuck into school really late and drew these huge symbols all over the field using dust plaster." Nojiko then broke into a smile. "It was spectacular, to be honest. I went to school early that morning and saw these circles and triangles all over. I couldn't figure out what they were supposed to be, so I went up to the fourth floor to get a better view."
"You know, I think I saw a picture on the newspaper about it," Kuina said. "A helicopter had flown above the school and taken a picture of it."
"What I saw was an article. The headline read boldly 'Mystery Vandal Strikes Junior High At Night', and the person who came to mind was none other than Portgas-kun. I mean, I couldn't picture anyone else pulling a stunt like that."
"So it was him, right?"
"Yeah. He even admitted that it was him. Naturally, he got called to the principal's office. From what I heard, every teacher was bombarding him the same question: Why did he do it?"
Kuina leaned forward. "So, why did he do it?"
"I've got not a clue," Nojiko sighed, taking a bite of her rice. "There were rumors of why he did it, like how he was trying to call out to UFOs or something."
"Maybe he was into that occult stuff."
"You mean summoning a portal to go to another dimension?" Nojiko shrugged. "Maybe. Portgas-kun refused to talk about it, though. He wouldn't say anything no matter what."
I listened to the conversation carefully. An image of a younger Ace with drawing powders and tools floated to my mind. He would be dead-set on finishing his work as he constructed random shapes on the field, holding a flashlight to see what he was doing while at it.
I could have imagined the expectations he must have held after his accomplishment. He probably had stared deeply into the sky when he was done, hoping for something paranormal to be attracted to his hard work and land its spaceship right next to him. It must have been a melancholic situation when his hopes were all dried up.
Nojiko went on about the things that Ace had did, like set out all the desks on top of the roof while being dressed as a vampire, or the time when he performed a ritual having to do with loads of incense. I kind of tuned out afterwards while Nojiko and Kuina became animated in their discussion. I mechanically fed myself as my eyes drifted elsewhere.
Ace was not inside the classroom at this point, or else we probably wouldn't have been having this conversation. But then again, even if he did hear us, he probably wouldn't have cared. Usually, he marched out of the classroom immediately after fourth period, then came back right before the fifth. He didn't seem to have a bento, so I had assumed that he went to the cafeteria to eat, but it shouldn't take an hour to eat. Furthermore, he vanishes right at the end of every period. Just where does he go?
Nojiko's snorts rang my ears, drawing my attention back to her. "He's still pretty popular, though," she said amusedly. "He's athletic, smart, and pretty cute too. Some girls even see his peculiarity to be mysterious, and with that recluse attitude he's a 'lone wolf' kind of guy."
Wow.
"Really?" Kuina said.
"Yep. For a while, he started to ask girls out randomly for the longest period of time. It was said that the longest relationship he had with a girl lasted for a week and the shortest was five minutes."
"I'm guessing that he was the one doing all the dumping, yeah?" I spoke.
"Exactly. The reason why he kept dumping was because, and I quote, 'I prefer not to waste my time with ordinary humans!'" She paused to chow down a mouthful of fish. "At least, that's what the girls kept crying about. Afterwards, they envisioned him to be a villain due to his heartbreaking streak, but that faded away quickly."
And to think that I would have a peaceful high school life. Without a doubt, it was plain to see that Ace would make this year an interesting one.
/00/
It was still April and Ace had yet to act up, but he did reveal some of his odd routines.
Odd routine #1: Everyday, he changes his appearance, and, regarding to my observations, there was a certain pattern to it. On Monday, he would come to school with his hair down and a yellow sticker stuck on his freckles. On Tuesday, he would come to school with a spike gelled on his head and a red sticker on his freckles. Wednesday, two spikes and a blue sticker. Thursday, three spikes and a green sticker. And Friday, four spikes and a gold sticker. And when Monday came again, the routine started all over again.
I really didn't get the routine of it at all. What was the point of adding the number of spikes as the days went on? And if he did keep that up, I wonder how his hair would look like on a Sunday.
Odd routine #2: For PE, classes 1-5 and 1-6 are combined to have the same class together. When it was time to get changed, the girls would go to 1-6 and the boys 1-5. Ace at least listened to this rule, or rather didn't have to since he didn't need to go anywhere, but he did cause trouble anyway. Before the girls in 1-5 would have the chance to move, Ace would start stripping away.
Most girls were confused by this and others, those with no shame at all, would start squealing in delight. Apparently, Ace's muscular physique was equivalent to that of Adonis, but I wouldn't pay mind to it at all. Troublesome.
So, basically, we were nothing more than sacks of potatoes to him. I asked Nojiko about this, and she said that this behavior was totally new for someone like Ace. In order to protect the purity of our maiden eyes, we girls would scurry out of the room right after the bell would ring.
Odd routine #3: Ace had a tendency of joining clubs and quitting right after. I discovered this a while back when I was passing by. One day, you'll see him shooting hoops in the basketball club or spinning an urn in the pottery club. He'll hit a homerun in the baseball club or strum a guitar in the music club.
I'm taking a guess here and say that he's utterly talented in everything that he does because it was often to see people trying to talk him into joining their clubs for good. However, Ace would turn to face them and shout "What good would it do if I were to do the same boring stuff? I need new experiences!"
In the end, he didn't join a club.
Because of his in-and-out attitude towards all the clubs he tried out, word met ear and word met ear. Ultimately, Ace became noticed just like that and there wasn't a single person who didn't know who he was. From the principal who barely showed his face in school, Ace became a household name. Ridiculous, right?
/00/
Ever since they heard my little brother call me Kyonko, my friends wouldn't stop calling me that. It derived from my grandparents who thought it'd be funny to call me as such, and when Wataru heard them he started calling me that. It used to be exasperating hearing that nickname, but I later got used to it. Actually, I think that my classmates think my real name really is Kyonko.
I was on my way to school, still on the process of reach over Mount Kilimanjaro—this huge frickin' hill I must cross over everyday. Kuina ran over to me with ease, not at all affected by the steepness of the hill. It could be that I'm seriously not physically fit or that those kendo practices that she takes really gives her strength.
"Morning, Kyonko," Kuina chirped.
"Mornin'," I replied drowsily. "You don't walk this way."
"No, I usually don't, but Zoro and I got into an argument, so I decided to take a different path."
Zoro was her brother, younger than us by a year. I met him a couple times before, and they looked nothing alike. I assumed that he was adopted, but didn't dare mention anything about it. Zoro was a quiet boy by nature; he wasn't shy, but more like…one of those strong and silent type of guy, you know? Yet there were times when he did talk a lot—well, more like complain. He would complain about the teachers and students in his school, especially a certain "love cook" he was so fond of degrading.
Kuina once told me that Zoro only knew how to communicate by complaining.
As we continued our way, we soon came across Nojiko. We traded our salutations and talked about trivial things. Kuina and Nojiko happened to develop a love for materialism as they often spoke about boys, clothes, teachers, and the like. Of course, once in a while I would become interested in what they have to say, such as Nojiko explaining about the crop inflation issue her mother had come across with or Kuina making it to the finals in the kendo tournament.
Still… Whenever they got into the routine of being materialistic, I tuned them off and just go off gazing. I wonder if this was what Ace meant by finding something out of the ordinary.
/00/
I've done it again.
I was talking with Ace.
It started out with me entering class and finding Ace already in his seat, frowning like always. Two spikes protruded from his head, so today must be Wednesday. After I sat down…I found myself talking to him again. Something must be wrong with me. Maybe I had lost it.
"Are those hair spikes and stickers a way of contacting aliens?"
Ace slowly lifted his eyes and settled them on me, watching me coolly. I felt a bit uneasy by this. "When did you notice?" he inquired.
I took a moment to think of an answer. "Awhile ago, I think."
"Well..." Ace relaxed into his seat, looking bored. "Each day of the week gives off a different image: Monday is yellow, Tuesday is red, Wednesday is blue, Thursday is green, Friday is gold, Saturday is brown, and Sunday is white."
I was starting to get it. By using the characters in the colors, there was a number representation. "So that means if we use numbers to represent each color, Monday would be zero and Sunday six, right?"
"Yes."
"Shouldn't Monday be one, though?" I pointed out.
"Who asked you?"
"…Um, yeah. Right."
And then he glared at me. I could feel a trickle of sweat slide down the back of my neck as I stared back, and I seriously had no idea why I would do such a thing. We continued staring at one another until he asked, "Have I met you somewhere before?"
It was as if the barrier of total awkwardness had finally been broken, only to be replaced with a confusing question. "Um, I don't think so."
Then Kuro-sensei (what we call our homeroom teacher now) entered the room, ending our first actual conversation.
The next day, Ace came to school with a haircut and sticker-less.
Was it something that I said?
/00/
"Is it true that you really tried to join all the clubs?"
From then on, I fell into the routine of talking to Ace a few minutes before class would start. Obviously, if I didn't try to start a conversation, Ace would just sit there with a frown—jeez, doesn't he ever smile? Additionally, I had to come up with interesting topics to converse about, nothing like what was seen on T.V last night or the new popstar sensation. Nojiko and Kuina would totally fail at holding a conversation with him.
I would prop my arm on the head of the chair and rest my chin on my arm. I'm sure that Ace was used to this by now, and I've grown used to seeing him frown and fold his arms across his chest and him leaning against his seat. For someone who didn't like structure, he sure was establishing one daily.
"Yes," he replied.
"Were any of them fun?"
"No," Ace said this with an exceptionally flat tone, and then sighed. "Everyone says that high school would be life changing, but I see no difference. The protocol is essentially the same: mandatory education, boring lectures, dumb clubs… I've attended the wrong school—that might be it."
No, all schools were like this.
"Sports clubs and cultural clubs are exactly the same. They're all boring. If there was some unique, exceptional club in this school, then I might consider joining. "
"Who put you in charge of deciding what clubs are interesting or not?" I wondered aloud.
Ace scowled. "Shut up. I prefer a club that's unique and special. I'd consider joining something like that."
"I knew you'd say that."
"Mmm."
/00/
"I heard that you asked out and then dumped all your girlfriends."
Ace's head shot up. "What does it matter to you?"
I knew not to say "Nothing" for Ace will grow irrationally angry. Instead, I replied with "Curious."
"Che." Ace folded his arms and scowled. "I don't know what you heard, but it doesn't matter. Most of it is true, in any case."
"So you never met a girl you ever wanted to have a serious relationship with?"
"Not one. How could I possibly engage in a serious relationship when all of them were silly and immature? The majority of them expected me to whip out a luxurious dinner with candles, and then take them to a sappy romantic movie for the 'heart-pounding experience', or so I've been told. Many, many, many times, in fact."
I realized that Ace was ranting.
"And in the end, they would say a shy goodbye and walk away. What is up with that? And then, without fail, they would conjure a confession of their deepest love and adoration over the phone. What's so hard about saying it to my face?"
I couldn't answer, not that Ace would want my answer anyway. All of those questions were rhetorical, of course. But I couldn't find a response that would suit his tastes—I would probably wind up angering him again. It was because I could understand how those girls felt. I mean, they were in junior high at the time, so it was obvious that they would expect these things from him. And I'm sure they were too shy to profess their love before him.
He had a strong personality, anyway, and too insensible to bother seeing it from his former girlfriends' perspective. Or maybe it was because he was a typical fifteen-year-old boy with an infatuation for the paranormal. Yeah, I'm sure that would classify as terrible boyfriend material. I really hope I wouldn't end up with someone like Ace.
"I'm guessing that only aliens could satisfy your tastes then?" I inquired dryly.
"I am fine with aliens or similar things as long as they are not human. Be they male or female."
I raised a brow. "Why is it so important that they not be human?"
Ace looked at me as though I was an idiot. I probably was one.
"Because ordinary humans are no fun at all."
/00/
"How do you do it?"
I blinked. "Do what?"
"Don't play dumb," Nojiko snorted. "How did you manage to get Portgas-kun to talk so much? I've never seen him engaged in so many conversations before!"
"I just…asked him questions."
She gave me a flat stare. "Just asked questions?"
"Really."
"Really?"
"Really!"
/00/
It was by time that we got to change seats now. The student president tore pieces of paper and numbered them all and placed them in a tin. The tin was then passed around for us to draw from it. Giddiness welled up inside me when I realized that I could get away from Ace FOREVER! And the seat that I had chosen was the absolutely best one yet! It was in the second to last row next to the window that overlooked the courtyard—talk about fantastic!
And just guess who sat behind me?
The ever-frowning Ace…
I just couldn't believe my luck. I mean, it's not like I believed there was something like the red string of fate being tied to your pinky or anything…but really? Did Ace really have to miraculously pick a number that happened to be behind me? Really?
Ace was groaning. I noticed that he was trying to bury his face in his desk. "Why won't anything interesting ever happen?" he whined. "Like, I don't know, grade school kids vanishing one by one and their bodies being found by the river bed or teachers found murdered inside a locked classroom! That'd be exciting."
I tried not to twitch. "Portgas, shut up."
I don't know why, but Ace had been a bit more talkative than usual. In fact, he even brought up the conversation himself. "I went to see what the Mystery Study Group was like," he piped.
"Oh? And how was it?"
"Boring as hell. There was nothing interesting, and all the members were detective otakus yet none of them bother to dress up like one."
Did you have to dress up like a detective in order to be one?
"I also went to the Supernatural Study Group," Ace went on.
"And how was that one?"
"The members were just a bunch of occult maniacs."
And he wasn't? "You didn't have fun in that one?" I asked, propping my cheek on my hand.
"Nope." Ace sat up straighter and sighed heavy heartedly. "Everything is too boring. Why does this school have no decently interesting clubs?"
This had gone for long enough with all of his vigorous club hunting, and yet none of the clubs satisfied him. What was up with this guy? He was expecting way too much out of a simple high school. The sports clubs were too boring, the culture clubs were too boring, and the study group clubs were too boring… If everything was boring to him, then what in the world did he want?
I got the general idea of what kind of club he wanted, and that was the "do something interesting" club, which I wasn't sure whether it existed or not. Well, just what was interesting to him? Aliens, monsters, espers, and anything paranormal, that much I know. He also liked murder crimes, right? And he did like UFOs, regarding to when he drew on the field when he was a junior high student.
But then…all these things couldn't be thrown in his face at the same time. Ace made it clear that he would want anything different, spontaneous, and superb. That was why he complained all the time; that was why he was always irritable. He was just like a kid.
I know how that feels, though.
"Then if you don't like the clubs here, why not make your own?" I inquired absently. Ha. If Ace were to establish his own club, he'll find it uninteresting and toss it away like the other clubs he had attended to for a short time period.
Ace didn't respond. Instead, his face got even angrier. Good grief, do I have a knack for pissing people off or what?
/00/
The heat was making me sleepy, and the whole class, I'm sure. As I was just nodding off, something took a strong grab of my ponytail and jerked me backwards, causing me to yelp. That certainly woke me up. My hands flew to my head automatically as I awkwardly looked behind. Of course it would be Ace.
"What are you doing? Let go!" I snapped.
I couldn't quite see him, but something in his tone made me imagine that he was smiling. "Why didn't I think about this before?" he cheered—first time I ever heard him cheer. "You're a genius, Kyonko!"
When he released me, I turned and was stunned to see a radiant grin sprouting on his face. From all those days of seeing him expressing nothing more than a frown or a scowl or a face of pure boredom, this grin nearly took my breath away—in a shocking sense, I mean.
Ace shot up to his feet and towered over me, his eyes sparkling like the stars. "If it doesn't exist, then why don't create one myself?"
"Create what?" I grumbled, soothing the sore spot on my head.
"Create a club!"
"Oh, that's great," I deadpanned, "but right now I want you to remember where we are and then you can share your incredible joy with me later."
"Why? What do ya mean?"
"Class is still on."
The class looked utterly awestruck and the newbie English teacher looked as though she was ready to cry. Must be hard having students who didn't care what you were teaching.
I signaled Ace to sit down, which he actually did (unwillingly) along with his impatient grumblings. I bowed politely to the teacher and sat down as well.
As the lesson continued, my mind strayed away. Create a club? Oh my gosh, I didn't think he would take me seriously! And just when I thought I simply pissed him off royally. I just hope that whatever plans he had in his head, he wouldn't drag me along with him.
